Finding Joy in Christ
Define Joy
I know someone who has a fear of dying. However as a child he was reckless and climbed everything with the purpose of jumping off without any fear. The two extremes are unmitigated recklessness or fear of every risk. I’m talking about finding joy in Christ today. I’m not talking about ecstasy or despair. Life is full of tragedy and struggle. We find entropy at every turn. When I talk of joy in Christ, I’m aware of the fact that we live in a telestial sphere where our happiness is not felt to the full extent possible. My topic for today is how can I find a moderate amount of joy here and now without waiting for some future bliss.
The Happiest Person I ever met
Baby Marilyn was the happiest person. She smiled constantly. And she didn’t just smile, she kicked her legs up and down and flapped her arms and practically hyperventilated with joy. She’s not a baby anymore and she’s not nearly as quick to smile either.
The Saddest Person I ever met
Denise was the saddest person I ever met. She had recently suffered a stroke and was paralyzed down one side of her body. She had lost her freedom to do things and she couldn’t talk either.
Joy can just flow to you without your even trying if you live like God lives
Going back to the blissful innocence of babyhood isn’t an option. Being cared for every minute of the day as Denise was in her paralyzed state isn’t happiness either. I want to show you how happiness is possible. I also want to emphasize that reacting to life’s trials with cynicism and angry isolation is miserable. The Lord promises us that if we are full of charity to all men, and virtue garnishes our thoughts, that everything he has will “flow unto [us]” …”without compulsory means.” Moderate happiness is possible in this life as we live according to the laws that naturally result in happiness.
Joy and happiness are normally fleeting feelings. Some people experience so much joy after their wedding - it’s called the “honeymoon period.” Most of us feel joy in “micro moments” and we have to recognize them or they disappear without a trace. If you think about it “negative emotions shout out and drag on, whereas positive emotions are like the silent butterfly that floats by. If we catch it, we can observe it closely but catching it is not easy.
So What Laws Leads to Joy?
The Book of Mormon repeats over and over: Obedience and righteousness lead to blessings, which lead to joy. Conversely, disobedience and wickedness lead to punishment, which leads to sorrow. Lots of obedient people have trials and troubles so let’s get specific about what results in joy and happiness.
The Presence of Trials Does Not Mean the Absence of Happiness
Corrie Ten Boom’s account of living in a concentration camp shows us that some people there were miserable while others in the same situation were able to maintain a certain aspect of positivity.
Corrie recounts a time when her sister taught her a powerful lesson in the concentration camp.
Betsie was praying: “Thank you," Betsie went on serenely, "for the fleas.” Corrie recounts feeling that not “even God can make me grateful for a flea." "Give thanks in all circumstances," Betsie quoted from the Bible. "It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us."
Betsie submitted to her trials and thanked God for them. Later Corrie admitted that it was the excessive number of fleas that kept the guards away so that those in the barracks who wanted to read the Bible could do so without being caught. Betsie may not have enjoyed the concentration camp, but she was not reacting with angry cynicism. She seemed to understand a law that results in joy no matter what circumstances we are in.
The Israelites Struggled to be Happy in the Wilderness
Numbers 11: 4-6 “and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.”
All they could see was NOTHING besides manna. The Israelites did not understand the law that results in happiness.
Here’s Where the Israelites Went Wrong
They idealized the past. Those melons and cucumbers represent an image of how “good” it was in Egypt. But Egypt was the past. They couldn’t go back and they couldn’t see how the present would be “good” enough unless it contained melons and cucumbers
They insisted that something was “not right” about their current situation. Instead, they would be happier if they could accept and submit to the current situation.
The Israelites didn’t Believe God is in control and that the experiences of this life are designed with your best outcomes in mind. I think it’s kind of funny that God asks Moses, "in Numbers 14:11 “How long will it be ere they believe me?” Didn’t he know that it would take many prophets and the Babylonian exile to convince the Jews to believe?
The Israelites would have found more happiness if they had been proactive about their situation
Being proactive is where you stop asking “Why Me?” And start thinking what you can
do with what you have. It is the beginning of a different way of thinking —one that leads
to happiness.
Joseph B Wirthlin “Finding a Safe Harbor” April 2000
“Use your ingenuity, your strength, your might to resolve your challenges.”
Faith is a Powerful Force Against Fear and Doubt
Fear not and be believing isn’t just a moral platitude. It is a recipe for happiness. Christ says, “Fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full.” (D&C 101:36) Fear and doubt come from the the very real trials we face. Fear and doubt are normal, natural responses. Faith takes effort on our part. Adversity helps us see where we need to repent, to bring into subjection baser instincts, to embrace righteousness and enjoy “peace of conscience.” Faith leads to a moderate amount of joy in the peace that results from repentance.
Henry B Eyring shared the story of Elisha who was surrounded by horses and chariots. The odds were against them.
“And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open [my servant’s] eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
Like that servant of Elisha, there are more with you than those you can see opposed to you. Some who are with you will be invisible to your mortal eyes, but others of the mere mortal variety will come to your aid….One way to experience a moderate amount of joy is in recognizing the help of others. Henry B Eyring, “O Ye the Embark” Oct 2008
Joy comes from the satisfaction of Overcoming Trials
David Baxter teaches us: “We can find the wherewithal to be thankful for what we have, rather than mourn what we have lost. Interestingly, we often hear that same sentiment expressed by those who have lost all of their worldly possessions in a natural disaster, such as a wildfire, flood, or hurricane. In virtually every case, they say, ‘At least we still have what is really important.’”
The testimony of Paul is encouraging:
“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
“I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11–13).
Gratitude in Trials for What Remains - David S Baxter “Leaving Adversity Behind” Dec 2012
Emma Smith Showed us How to Accept Trials
While Joseph was in Liberty Jail, Emma could still say to Joseph, “I shall live and am yet willing to suffer more if it is the will of kind heaven that I should for your sake.” Mar. 9, 1839, Joseph Smith Letterbooks, box 2, folder 2
Eve Show us How to find Joy in Redemption
Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. Moses 5:11
Alma Teaches Us to Look for the Fruit of Our Labors
“Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.” He doesn’t promise the fruit immediately. He only says that it is worth waiting for. Alma 32:43
The Pioneers Show us that Joy Comes from Building the Kingdom
Likewise, many pioneers faced the possibility of death with joy….For them, because of the peace the gospel brings, the sting of death was taken away. It is painful to lose someone you love and though most of us would hate to die because we have so many great things to live for. When you know the gospel plan, you know that death is not the end of the world. The pioneers rejoiced in their trials because they were part of a great cause and they believed that they were being led by God to build Zion
Anna Shows Us that Joy is Having a Thankful Heart and a Forward Looking Perspective
And there was one Anna, a prophetess…
37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
When she saw the Christ child, she “gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38
Joy comes from the same place as Charity
Remember at the beginning when I said that happiness with flow to you without compulsory means. One of the pre-conditions was charity.
Charity is an all powerful love that God has. In his love, he built each of us a body. Our body is made for love and by love. According to Barbara Fredrickson, “Your body was designed for love and to benefit from loving. Human bodies become healthier when repeatedly nourished by positivity resonance with others…. Your body broadcasts everything you feel — your moments of positivity… or lack thereof — to every part of you, readying you for either health or illness and rendering you either more of less equipped for loving connection.” (Happiness 2.0 pp 60-61)
Loving yourself is part of the precondition for happiness
Being in a state of Loving others is also going to affect everything you feel, think do and become
Being in a state of love despite the actions or misdeeds of others is a recipe for happiness
Dieter F Uchtdorf teaches us:
In the beloved children’s story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the mysterious candy maker Willy Wonka hides a golden ticket in five of his candy bars and announces that whoever finds one of the tickets wins a tour of his factory and a lifetime supply of chocolate.
Written on each golden ticket is this message: “Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this Golden Ticket … ! Tremendous things are in store for you! Many wonderful surprises await you!
In this classic children’s story, people all over the world desperately yearn to find a golden ticket. In their anxiousness, people begin to forget the simple joy they used to find in a candy bar. The candy bar itself becomes an utter disappointment if it does not contain a golden ticket.
IF YOU are waiting for a golden ticket—the ticket that you believe holds the key to the happiness, STOP and think about it.
There is nothing wrong with righteous yearnings—we hope and seek after things that are “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.” The problem comes when we put our happiness on hold as we wait for some future event—our golden ticket—to appear.
Start today to Believe. Don’t focus on what is “not right” about your situation
Start today to be grateful
Start today to love yourself
Start today to proactively choose a path forward
Work to catch the butterfly of happiness and rejoice in it’s micro-details
There is a moderate amount of joy available to you right now, TODAY. That joy comes from Christ and in following Christ’s example. Live so it will flow to you without compulsory means.